Fire fighter who lost his face undergoes Face Transplant (Photos)

Pat Hardison, 41, a former firefighter from Tennessee, lost most of his
face when his fireman's mask melted to it during a blaze in a mobile
home in 2001.

He said his disfigured features made his young children
scream in terror - and he despaired of ever living a normal life again.
But now Hardison has been given
a new face - and new hope - thanks to the riskiest face transplant
ever performed.

The father of five had the face of 26-year-old David
Rodebaugh grafted on to what remained of his own features in August this
year after the young man died in a cycling crash. The surgery was so
perilous that Hardison was told he had only a 50 per cent chance of
surviving it. But three months later he is thriving and boasts: 'Now I'm
just an average guy.' The amazing transformation was only made possible
when Rodebaugh's mom agreed to the transplant, noting that her son had
always wanted to be a firefighter.
Recalling the incident, he told ABC:

'It was just a normal day. Just like every other fire...we went in looking for a lady.'

He entered the house with three other firefighters but the ceiling collapsed around him.

He pulled the mask off, held his breath and closed his eyes, which
doctors say saved his sight and prevented smoke from damaging his throat
and lungs
The former firefighter spent 63 days in hospital and was
given the semblance of a face with flesh taken from his thighs. He had
lost his ears, lips, most of his nose and virtually all of his eyelid
tissue.

Because of this, he was unable to see properly.

When
he returned home, he recalled how his three young children, Alison,
six, Dalton, three and Averi, two, were terrified of him.

He told ABC:

Hardison's new face changing and recuperating after 26 hours of surgery on August 15, 2015.

'My kids were scared of me. You can't blame them. They're young kids.'He
playfully told them and other curious children that he had fought a
bear but they 'ran screaming and crying when they saw me. There are
things worse than dying

Even
though he had two more children, Braden and Cullen after the accident,
the impact of his accident put a huge strain on his family life and
after ten years of marriage, he and his wife Chrissi divorced.

More than 100 doctors, nurses, technical and support staff took part in
the 26-hour operation, conducted in mid-August at the NYU Langone
Medical Center.